Electric Guitarists out there

[Vegitto]

Originally posted by: DaShen

Originally posted by: Vegitto
Get a Michael Kelly guitar. Those are awesome, one of my friends has one. Seriously, I think it sounds better than his Gibson does.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/...riot-Custom-Electric-Guitar?sku=512296

What is your opinion on this guitar?

I am not too knowledgable about all the different pickups out there.

What would be the overall sound difference between the pickups here and the ones I posted?

He has exactly the same guitar (only Phantom Black, IIRC), and we both agree that it beats the Gibson LP hands down. Just sounds better. We took it to a shop that sold Gibsons and using the exact same amp etc etc, even the shopkeep (who had played guitar for some 30 odd years and owned a lot of Fenders, Gibsons etc.) agreed that it sounded better than the Gibson.

If I were you, try one. Compare it to a real Gibson. You'll see .

 

[DaShen]

Originally posted by: jlbenedict
Check my sig.. my $149 special..

Ripped all the junk out and replaced & rewired with all new pots, caps, pickups, etc..
Pulled out the crappy tuners and popped some Grover tuners in..

Only original parts are the wood and the backplate

Sweet!!!!!! :thumbsup:

Too bad I don't have the time to do this.

 

[Vegitto]

Also, I've got a Hondo II Les Paul copy (pre-lawsuit) (got it for free from someone who was going to move and had stopped playing the guitar) and that one sounds awesome, too. Of course, it's got fretbuzz, sounds kind of muddy sometimes and looks like crap, but it's a vintage guitar and most of the times it sounds awesome. If you want a nice backup/practice guitars, get one of those. They can be had for as low as $150, I heard. I'll look on eBay for one .

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Hondo-II-Le...4QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Mine looks a little different, but you'll see that they sound comparable to an Epiphone.

 

[DaShen]

^

 

[vi edit]

FWIW, Harmony Central has quite a few user comments on the various Agile guitars:

http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar/brand/Agile

 

[step-dawg]

if you have the money and are serious, just go get a real Gibson Les Paul. You won't regret it. You may like the agiles, but if you are a serious player, eventually you'll want the real deal so why not just go for it. If money is an issue, then consider the lesser models.

 

[DaShen]

I am not sure but they might have discontinued the one I wanted
http://www.rondomusic.net/al3000rootbeerspalted.html

 

[nakedfrog]

I have one of the SX bass guitars from Rondo, and it sounds nice and plays well, and was quiet a bargain.

 

[Kirby]

Originally posted by: step-dawg
if you have the money and are serious, just go get a real Gibson Les Paul. You won't regret it. You may like the agiles, but if you are a serious player, eventually you'll want the real deal so why not just go for it. If money is an issue, then consider the lesser models.

Agreed. Last time I looked the Les Paul Studio was on sale at Guitar Center for about a grand. I've got one and I love it, even though I payed $1200 for it.

 

[Platypus]

I'll probably get flamed for this..

I think Gibson as a company has really gone down the sh!tter from what it used to be. Gibson moved out of Kalamazoo, MI and down to Tennessee some time ago.. a lot of the Gibson staff didn't think this was a wise choice and decided to break off from Gibson and form their own company called Heritage Guitars. They bought the entire factory and every tool in it.. Lately (for some time actually) the quality control on their non-custom shop guitars is spotty at best. The same could be said for Fender as well but that's not the subject here. I've played Heritage guitars before.. for the price it BLOWS away most of the current Gibson stuff.. they're worth checking out albeit a tad more pricey than the one in your link. Also check out Tokai(if you can find one), Edwards, Burns.. they make really nice LP copies.

I wouldn't purchase a guitar online personally... back to my discussion earlier with quality control on most big name brand guitarmakers.. you should play it in person. In every batch there are cherries and lemons.. you NEVER know until you play it so make sure it fits you. Go into any guitar store and play two common current production non-custom shop Fenders or Gibsons... they will probably feel different. One will be noticeably better.

DaShen, tell us your price range, the style of music you want to play (you can list bands if you want) and what sort of amplifier you're going to be playing this through. A guitar is very important for your overall tone but nowadays, amplifiers are instruments of their own too and it should be a significant part of your budget. The best amps are ones that don't color the tone of your guitar and basically just intensify it. More often with really good guitarists, you can tell what kind of guitar it is before the amp they're using. It really depends on what your needs are. If you're just wanting to learn, spend more for the guitar so if you end up liking how you sound (and you will, once you play a really nice tube amp though.. it turns into an addiction.) buy a better amp down the road.

On a sad side-note, an extremely rare really mint condition amp I won on Ebay recently got destroyed by FedEx.. AFTER getting destroyed by UPS and sent back to him. I swear I have the worst luck ever. Let's just say, I felt my stomach turn when I opened the box... such a waste, such a waste

 

[mrrman]

nice guitars...I have a EP SG Custom that I also picked up...more than your listing $$ but its nice...never heard of the guitars OP posted but they look nice

 

[40sTheme]

Mm mmm, gotta love the Les Pauls. Smooth play and sound. I myself have a 1979 Strat I bought from my friend's dad, but my guitar mentor (don't like the term teacher, we really just hang out and jam) has an old Les Paul that is amazing.... It's sweet to hear Paul rhythm and Strat lead. If you're serious, I would get a Les Paul. They are hands down THE best for the sound you like.

 

[DaShen]

Originally posted by: Platypus
I'll probably get flamed for this..

I think Gibson as a company has really gone down the sh!tter from what it used to be. Gibson moved out of Kalamazoo, MI and down to Tennessee some time ago.. a lot of the Gibson staff didn't think this was a wise choice and decided to break off from Gibson and form their own company called Heritage Guitars. They bought the entire factory and every tool in it.. Lately (for some time actually) the quality control on their non-custom shop guitars is spotty at best. The same could be said for Fender as well but that's not the subject here. I've played Heritage guitars before.. for the price it BLOWS away most of the current Gibson stuff.. they're worth checking out albeit a tad more pricey than the one in your link. Also check out Tokai(if you can find one), Edwards, Burns.. they make really nice LP copies.

I wouldn't purchase a guitar online personally... back to my discussion earlier with quality control on most big name brand guitarmakers.. you should play it in person. In every batch there are cherries and lemons.. you NEVER know until you play it so make sure it fits you. Go into any guitar store and play two common current production non-custom shop Fenders or Gibsons... they will probably feel different. One will be noticeably better.

DaShen, tell us your price range, the style of music you want to play (you can list bands if you want) and what sort of amplifier you're going to be playing this through. A guitar is very important for your overall tone but nowadays, amplifiers are instruments of their own too and it should be a significant part of your budget. The best amps are ones that don't color the tone of your guitar and basically just intensify it. More often with really good guitarists, you can tell what kind of guitar it is before the amp they're using. It really depends on what your needs are. If you're just wanting to learn, spend more for the guitar so if you end up liking how you sound (and you will, once you play a really nice tube amp though.. it turns into an addiction.) buy a better amp down the road.

On a sad side-note, an extremely rare really mint condition amp I won on Ebay recently got destroyed by FedEx.. AFTER getting destroyed by UPS and sent back to him. I swear I have the worst luck ever. Let's just say, I felt my stomach turn when I opened the box... such a waste, such a waste

THAT SUCKS!!!! Amps are things of beauties. I am actually looking for a reasonably priced amp just to play around the house. If I play the guitar outside, I will just use a preamp and hook it up to the stage systems. No big deal.

I have heard many great things about Heritage Guitars, too. But I want the standard Les Paul shape and feel because I already have a Gibson Les Paul case. And yes, I totally agree with you about Gibsons. I don't know much about new Fenders though.

 

[Platypus]

That's cool, sorry if I assumed too much in my first post about your knowledge of the subject

The amp was cherry dude.. '91 early serial number Mesa/Boogie MarkIV head.. with the CII+ preamp section (the CII+ has one of my favorite tones of all time).. it had a custom shock sustainer system that they typically only install in combos.. not headcabs. Guy treated it like a closet queen, was in perfect condition and extremely well priced.. came with some really old tubes as well that were amazing.. all smashed .. guess it's hard to understand the feeling right now. I'm not upset because of the loss of it.. but just to see something like that treated so poorly made me sick to my stomach. The tubes that were still in the amp (why didn't he remove them :roll: ) were literally hanging because the tube sockets they were in had become unsoldered during it's 'trip.' When I removed them, the pins on the tubes broke off or stayed inside the socket.... :|

Ah well, sh!t happens right?

 

[Fritzo]

Agile makes good stuff, but I'm a purist. I have to have real stuff for some reason- real Gibson LP, real Fender Telecaster, real Martin....etc. If I play knockoffs it bugs me.

Anyway, enough of my psychological problems. If you read around, you'll see Agile's good reputation. Their pickups aren't the best, but the built quality is top notch.

 

[Fritzo]

Originally posted by: DaShen

Originally posted by: Platypus
I'll probably get flamed for this..

I think Gibson as a company has really gone down the sh!tter from what it used to be. Gibson moved out of Kalamazoo, MI and down to Tennessee some time ago.. a lot of the Gibson staff didn't think this was a wise choice and decided to break off from Gibson and form their own company called Heritage Guitars. They bought the entire factory and every tool in it.. Lately (for some time actually) the quality control on their non-custom shop guitars is spotty at best. The same could be said for Fender as well but that's not the subject here. I've played Heritage guitars before.. for the price it BLOWS away most of the current Gibson stuff.. they're worth checking out albeit a tad more pricey than the one in your link. Also check out Tokai(if you can find one), Edwards, Burns.. they make really nice LP copies.

I wouldn't purchase a guitar online personally... back to my discussion earlier with quality control on most big name brand guitarmakers.. you should play it in person. In every batch there are cherries and lemons.. you NEVER know until you play it so make sure it fits you. Go into any guitar store and play two common current production non-custom shop Fenders or Gibsons... they will probably feel different. One will be noticeably better.

DaShen, tell us your price range, the style of music you want to play (you can list bands if you want) and what sort of amplifier you're going to be playing this through. A guitar is very important for your overall tone but nowadays, amplifiers are instruments of their own too and it should be a significant part of your budget. The best amps are ones that don't color the tone of your guitar and basically just intensify it. More often with really good guitarists, you can tell what kind of guitar it is before the amp they're using. It really depends on what your needs are. If you're just wanting to learn, spend more for the guitar so if you end up liking how you sound (and you will, once you play a really nice tube amp though.. it turns into an addiction.) buy a better amp down the road.

On a sad side-note, an extremely rare really mint condition amp I won on Ebay recently got destroyed by FedEx.. AFTER getting destroyed by UPS and sent back to him. I swear I have the worst luck ever. Let's just say, I felt my stomach turn when I opened the box... such a waste, such a waste

THAT SUCKS!!!! Amps are things of beauties. I am actually looking for a reasonably priced amp just to play around the house. If I play the guitar outside, I will just use a preamp and hook it up to the stage systems. No big deal.

I have heard many great things about Heritage Guitars, too. But I want the standard Les Paul shape and feel because I already have a Gibson Les Paul case. And yes, I totally agree with you about Gibsons. I don't know much about new Fenders though.

You guys are talking about Gibson's problems between 1997-2002. They got back to basics after that and are really making some good stuff now. Their Satin line is probably my favorite because they don't add the gloss coat, making the sustain on the guitar sound like one that's been aged for 30 years.

I'm a big Gibson fan and know my LP history...ask me anything

 

[Platypus]

Interesting.. I just don't think the problems have gone away personally.. perhaps not as bad as in late 90s but there are a lot of guitars that they put out that should be snatched by quality control for the price they charge for their guitars... that's why Gibson leaves a bad taste in my mouth. That being said, I have a 58 V.O.S. Les Paul Custom Shop and it's my favorite guitar to play hands down. I just wish they'd put as much time into their higher end models into their other axes.. I'm not saying they should be identical but when you get a well made Gibson in your hands.. there's nothing else even close to it in my mind.

 

[DaShen]

Originally posted by: Fritzo
Agile makes good stuff, but I'm a purist. I have to have real stuff for some reason- real Gibson LP, real Fender Telecaster, real Martin....etc. If I play knockoffs it bugs me.

Anyway, enough of my psychological problems. If you read around, you'll see Agile's good reputation. Their pickups aren't the best, but the built quality is top notch.

I have heard the same. Eventually, I would just replace the pickups once I get to that point.

I have a real Martin as well. Plus I have a $300-400 "Banger" Yamaha Dreadnaught. A cheap Rogue Mando w/ a pickup that I am teaching myself to play too (I should have just invested in a F style Mando <oh well live and learn> ).

http://www.heritageguitar.com/models/H150CMUltra.htm

Any ideas on this guys? the dimensions might be off though, it seems a little smaller.

I still want the Agile, but I am hoping he is just out of stock and not discontinued.

 

[DaShen]

I also have a question on AMPs.

I am looking at a Beringer 60 W Ultratwin. What do you think?

 

[Cerpin Taxt]

Originally posted by: DaShen
I also have a question on AMPs.

I am looking at a Beringer 60 W Ultratwin. What do you think?

Link? I can't seem to find too much about this amp on teh intarweb. Do you mean the GX-212? If so, I'd say it's not bad for all of the digital effects you get. I'm not the biggest fan of solid state amplifiers, however.

FWIW, I am absolutely in love with my Carvin XV-212. 100W of all-tube goodness. The clean channel has just the right headroom, and the dirty channel can do anything from light rock distortion to some thick metal crunch. I use a Korg AX-30G in the effects loop for modulation effects, and the on-board spring reverb is actually pretty good.

Here is the 60W 1x12 version.

Here is the 100W head-only version which you could easily set on this cabinet for the same effect.

 

[DaShen]

Originally posted by: Garth

Originally posted by: DaShen
I also have a question on AMPs.

I am looking at a Beringer 60 W Ultratwin. What do you think?

Link? I can't seem to find too much about this amp on teh intarweb. Do you mean the GX-212? If so, I'd say it's not bad for all of the digital effects you get. I'm not the biggest fan of solid state amplifiers, however.

FWIW, I am absolutely in love with my Carvin XV-212. 100W of all-tube goodness. The clean channel has just the right headroom, and the dirty channel can do anything from light rock distortion to some thick metal crunch. I use a Korg AX-30G in the effects loop for modulation effects, and the on-board spring reverb is actually pretty good.

Here is the 60W 1x12 version.

Here is the 100W head-only version which you could easily set on this cabinet for the same effect.

Thanks. I am looking at a Behringer Ultratwin GX210 60W

 

[Cerpin Taxt]

Originally posted by: DaShen

Originally posted by: Garth

Originally posted by: DaShen
I also have a question on AMPs.

I am looking at a Beringer 60 W Ultratwin. What do you think?

Link? I can't seem to find too much about this amp on teh intarweb. Do you mean the GX-212? If so, I'd say it's not bad for all of the digital effects you get. I'm not the biggest fan of solid state amplifiers, however.

FWIW, I am absolutely in love with my Carvin XV-212. 100W of all-tube goodness. The clean channel has just the right headroom, and the dirty channel can do anything from light rock distortion to some thick metal crunch. I use a Korg AX-30G in the effects loop for modulation effects, and the on-board spring reverb is actually pretty good.

Here is the 60W 1x12 version.

Here is the 100W head-only version which you could easily set on this cabinet for the same effect.

Thanks. I am looking at a Behringer Ultratwin GX210 60W

Ok. Yeah, that is probably a pretty good amp for your purposes. I would advise checking the user reviews at www.harmony-central.com though. It's probably cheaper than a Line6 equivalent style amplifier, and the digital effects are probably almost identical.

Still, I am a big proponent of tube amplifiers. I was a naysayer and happy with my solid state amp until I really started testing tube amps. The only thing that solid state amps have over tube amps is better clean channel headroom and tonal consistency at lower volumes. That last remark basically means that I don't start realizing the fabulous tonal qualities of my tube amp until I push it up into the upper gain levels in the post-amp stage. You can overdrive the pre-amp to get the crunch, but if you don't also open up the post-amp tubes, you don't get all the tonal qualities.

 

[DaShen]

Originally posted by: Garth

Originally posted by: DaShen

Originally posted by: Garth

Originally posted by: DaShen
I also have a question on AMPs.

I am looking at a Beringer 60 W Ultratwin. What do you think?

Link? I can't seem to find too much about this amp on teh intarweb. Do you mean the GX-212? If so, I'd say it's not bad for all of the digital effects you get. I'm not the biggest fan of solid state amplifiers, however.

FWIW, I am absolutely in love with my Carvin XV-212. 100W of all-tube goodness. The clean channel has just the right headroom, and the dirty channel can do anything from light rock distortion to some thick metal crunch. I use a Korg AX-30G in the effects loop for modulation effects, and the on-board spring reverb is actually pretty good.

Here is the 60W 1x12 version.

Here is the 100W head-only version which you could easily set on this cabinet for the same effect.

Thanks. I am looking at a Behringer Ultratwin GX210 60W

Ok. Yeah, that is probably a pretty good amp for your purposes. I would advise checking the user reviews at www.harmony-central.com though. It's probably cheaper than a Line6 equivalent style amplifier, and the digital effects are probably almost identical.

Still, I am a big proponent of tube amplifiers. I was a naysayer and happy with my solid state amp until I really started testing tube amps. The only thing that solid state amps have over tube amps is better clean channel headroom and tonal consistency at lower volumes. That last remark basically means that I don't start realizing the fabulous tonal qualities of my tube amp until I push it up into the upper gain levels in the post-amp stage. You can overdrive the pre-amp to get the crunch, but if you don't also open up the post-amp tubes, you don't get all the tonal qualities.

Yeah, that is the reason I wanted solid-state since I would be playing it at home and I don't want to play loud. I just want to have something to practice on.

 

[Fritzo]

Originally posted by: Vegitto

Originally posted by: DaShen

Originally posted by: Vegitto
Get a Michael Kelly guitar. Those are awesome, one of my friends has one. Seriously, I think it sounds better than his Gibson does.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/...riot-Custom-Electric-Guitar?sku=512296

What is your opinion on this guitar?

I am not too knowledgable about all the different pickups out there.

What would be the overall sound difference between the pickups here and the ones I posted?

He has exactly the same guitar (only Phantom Black, IIRC), and we both agree that it beats the Gibson LP hands down. Just sounds better. We took it to a shop that sold Gibsons and using the exact same amp etc etc, even the shopkeep (who had played guitar for some 30 odd years and owned a lot of Fenders, Gibsons etc.) agreed that it sounded better than the Gibson.

If I were you, try one. Compare it to a real Gibson. You'll see .

This sparked my interest yesterday, so I took you up on it. I played a MK (in fact, it was that burst one in that link listed). I liked the neck- it has the 15th+ fret a little more useable than on a Les Paul. However, I didn't like the frets- they didn't seem to be laid very well. I'm betting they'll wear pretty easy.

The finish was nice. Better than some of the PRS guitars in fact. The wood grain was nothing special, but they did a nice job of shining it up. Kudos on that.

The pickups were muddy. Didn't care for them at all. The Crate amp I was using may not have been a good match for it though. Also, the guitar doesn't have much sustain for being a solid body. It has a push/pull pot that caused the guitar to chime when used---MAJOR no no. I can't believe they didn't use a soft switching pot on that.

The Grovers it has seemed to hold tune very well (I bend a lot, so I'm a good tester). The bridge seemed to be a takeoff of a Tune-o-Matic. I liked it's shape- it was nice to rest the side of my palm against when muting strings.

So- all in all...not a bad axe. The inlays were nice on the neck, but I expected a bit more sustain out of a solid body- especially one made out of mahogany. I'm betting it's got cores taken out of it to cut down on the weight, which might be why it doesn't seem to be as heavy as it looks. Also, the inlays looked more like plastic than abalone (which is actually the inside on a clam). It looked nice though. Does it compare to a Les Paul Standard? Well, it's a lot less expensive, and it looks about as nice, and the upper frets are more accessible; but the pickup performance, sustain, and neck construction aren't even in the same class.

I'd recommend it...just upgrade to some SD pickups or something after you get it. Too bad I disappointed the kid at Guitar Center by not buying it...he really was doing a sales job

 

[thomsbrain]

getting a guitar like that and then running it through a behringer is like buying a Ferrari Enzo and then driving it on bicycle training wheels.

if you want a real guitar, get a real amp. 100% tube-based marshalls, fenders, oranges, and mesa boogies should be the only models you consider.